Parents protest over fears disabled children's services could be cut

A group made their feelings known to Dudley Council members as they arrived for the first meeting of the municipal year where the new mayor was chosen and cabinet was announced.

The authority is making changes to SEND provision following a critical Ofsted and Care Quality Commission inspection in 2019.

Among the changes will be the merger of early years, educational advisory and childcare strategy teams and bosses said this will improve provision for families.

But parent Rachael Gardener, who is also CEO of the We Love Carers charity, said they fear vital services and specially trained staff will be lost as a result of the changes.

There is also a fear children with special educational needs will be placed in mainstream schools not equipped to cater for them.

And she added a lack of consultation is heightening concerns among parents worried about how the changes will affect their families.

'Lack of consultation'

At the protest Rachael voiced their opposition as the new Conservative cabinet posed for photos prior to the full council meeting. A few Labour members offered support to the group before going inside.

Rachael said: “We are concerned about the lack of consultation over the mergers of three services, changes to the SEN matrix and the local authority’s agenda of getting the majority of special needs children into mainstream schools.

“These kids will be losing vital services, they’ll be more vulnerable and there will be far more exclusions. We believe mainstream isn’t set up to have SEN children in at the moment.

“We know changes have to be made and all special needs schools are full. But what we’re saying is there has to be a proper strategy in place. There has to be a full consultation on what their agenda is.

“They are looking at changing policies without consultation. If full consultation brings the same outcomes, then we would be happy but you can’t make changes without a consultation.

“The council has had one review with an independent consultant and what they have planned is parents can be part of the co-production.

“But the main part of the co-production which is the integration of services and the probable job losses, we can’t be part of. We have no say in that so the consultation is effectively done.

“We are asking for a full and fair consultation so that everyone is allowed to speak. We’ve not even been allowed to see the review and don’t even know what’s in it. How can that be fair?

Lifeline

“To us, it feels like they are downgrading services. We need specialist teachers to look after the children.

“They are under the impression support workers can do that job but they can’t.

“These teachers are a lifeline for some families, they go above and beyond to support the families.

Councillor Ruth Buttery, cabinet member for children’s services, said: “We are remodelling our early years, educational advisory and childcare strategy teams to form an integrated service to best serve our children and families.

“These changes will maximise opportunities for children with additional needs and will give families easier access to wider preventative and locality-based provision and follow recommendations from Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission during an inspection in 2019.

“Significant work is also taking place across Dudley borough’s maternity and early years partnership to improve the outcomes for our youngest children and their families, with recent independent review and meeting with DfE sighting our positive progress.

“Dudley Council is committed to achieving good outcomes for all families, children and young people in Dudley borough.”